Morning News and Stuff

The City of Cincinnati and Duke Energy are still fighting
over the streetcar. The city and company are both disputing who is
required to relocate utility lines and pipes in order to accommodate for
the streetcar. Cincinnati officials say Duke Energy is required to do
it under state law, but the company disagrees. The city is considering
legal action, so the feud might soon be heading to court.

A recent campaign event might have been mandatory for
workers at a mine in Beallsville, Ohio. The miners were allegedly pulled
from work, refused pay and required to attend the event with
presidential candidate Mitt Romney and senatorial candidate Josh Mandel.
Romney, Mandel and the mine owner have all been criticized for the
move.

President Barack Obama’s administration finalized new
regulations yesterday requiring the average gas mileage of new cars to
be at 54.5 mpg by 2025. The new standard is double today’s standard.
Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator, said on Twitter the new standards will
reduce national oil consumption by two million barrels a day. The United
States currently uses about 20 million barrels a day.

Husted ended up firing the two Democrats on the Montgomery
Board of Elections that voted for extending in-person early voting to
include weekends. Democrats say not allowing weekend voting is voter
suppression, but Republicans cite racial politics and costs as
deterrents.

The Republican national convention is underway in Tampa,
Fla. Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio will be there. For
coverage, check out Twitter’s Republican convention page, which tracks
all mentions of the convention.